What My Dog Did on His Summer Vacation

I have a Labrador retriever named Charlie. Charlie is not the best specimen of his breed. We suspect he ended up with Lab Rescue because he personified that old saying: That dog can't hunt.

In fact, for a long time, Charlie didn't like water, heresy in a dog with webbed feet and a rudder for a tail. The only place where Charlie really comes into his own is during our annual trip to the beach. Before 8 a.m. he can be off leash and so we walk to the beach and throw a tennis ball into the surf. Charlie bounds in fearlessly.

Fearlessly but not always that adeptly, as this home movie reveals:

Sometimes I wish I loved something with such unbridled enthusiasm--such uncontainable joy--as Charlie loves his ball at the beach.